The US is "scrambling" to prevent a full-blown conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, according to Axios, citing unnamed American officials.
The White House is also alarmed by the possibility that Israel could start or be drawn into a war with Hezbollah "without a clear strategy or consideration of the full implications of a wider conflict." In recent weeks, Washington has reportedly cautioned Tel Aviv against the notion of a "limited war" in Lebanon, warning that Iran could intervene.
The Biden team is trying to address the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah while working to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza, which the US sees as the only measure to de-escalate tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, has vowed to intensify its attacks along the border to avenge Israel's killing of the group's top military commander, Taleb Sami Abdullah. Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets into northern Israel on Wednesday, hours after Abdullah was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
An ally of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Hezbollah has traded fire with Israel almost every day since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7. Hezbollah says it will only stop if there is a truce in Gaza.
Hezbollah and Israel fought their last major war in July-August 2006, in which the Lebanese group lost about 250 men while killing 121 Israeli servicemen and injuring over 1,200 others.